EOW Group Report #3, November 16, 2015
The Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP) had one candidate on the ballot in 2015, Kristin Combs who ran for Philadelphia City Council. She was listed in a city-wide campaign for one of the minor-party, at-large seats. Kristin did an exceptional job of running a full-time campaign while, at the same time, teaching high school.

Here are some of Kristin’s accomplishments. She was 1) the first Green Party candidate to achieve city-wide ballot status since 2012, 2) the first GPOP candidate to receive the endorsement of AFSCME District Council 33 and APWU Local 7048, and 3) the first GPOP candidate to receive the endorsement of the Philadelphia chapters of Americans for Democratic Action and National Organization for Women (NOW) PAC.
As a result, Kristin earned more than 11,181 votes in the General Election on November 3. This was historically the highest vote total of any Green Party candidate running city-wide in Philadelphia. She accomplished this by convincing many voters to “split their ticket,” i.e. to vote for one Green candidate, while they were still voting with another party for the rest of the ballot.

Polling GPOP’s Membership
On November 4, members of GPOP’s Election Operations Working (EOW) Group, GPOP NEWS and GPOP Chat, received a request to evaluate the Green Party and Kristin Combs’ performance in the 2015 General Election. We received five thoughtful responses (three from GPOP Chat and two from GPOP News).
Neil Haagen, a leader of the Green Party of Centre County, PA, responding via telephone, expressed a widely-held opinion: “I think that Kristin should be congratulated for the campaign she ran. As a young school teacher with no electoral experience and zero name recognition, Kristin acquired many endorsements and the active support of labor and movement organizations. Through the dedication of time and energy, she carried out a smart campaign which drew more than 11,100 neighbors to vote for her.”

More Volunteers Required
As for our members’ thoughts on improving future Green Party campaigns, there was one overriding issue of agreement. Judy Becker, who volunteered for Kristin at a polling place in Olney (Ward 61), said, “We needed more volunteers.” There you have it: winning an election is tough work and no candidate can do it alone.
Green Party candidates have found over the last eleven years that there is one simple ingredient which will improve the vote for a candidate at any polling place – a volunteer who is present and asking neighbors for their vote. We know that this was true when Tom Hutt ran as a Green for City Council District 9 in 2004, and it has been proven to be true in nearly every election since then. [Please see “History of Green Party Volunteers in Philadelphia Elections (2007 – 2013).”]

Okay, we understand that some Greens had to work on November 3, but there were many other tasks for volunteers. Peter Applebaum pointed out, “Driving around Germantown and Mount Airy, I saw [yard] signs all over along the streets. Walking around Center City, the Northeast, South Philly, there was no evidence that Kristin was running for election.” Perhaps some Greens in Center City, the Northeast and South Philly will volunteer an hour next year to put up yard signs for future Green candidates.
Kristin Combs has complained that she faced “a near media black-out.” On this point, Peter Applebaum had another good idea for volunteers, “The Inquirer is a powerful force. In the next campaign, 1000 Green Party members should harass the Inquirer until they know enough to endorse the candidate.”
Bernadette Marie Cronin-Geller, who volunteered at the polls in Roxborough (Ward 21) for Kristin, pointed out another area in which we need more volunteers, “Folks I talked with did not know that the Green Party was a party like the Dems or Repubs. We need good literature about the Green Party and how it’s different. That will require more folks willing to educate by creative means.”

“I also think we need more experienced candidates with city-wide exposure,” continued Bernadette, “which is where Chris’ [Electoral Operations Working (EOW) Group] comes in.” The EOW Group is now recruiting Green Party candidates for 2016. They are searching for people who want to make a change and who are fed up with the current two-party, do-nothing politics. The EOW Group needs your help in contacting movement, labor and neighborhood organizations around the city.
We also received a long email via GPOP Chat from Bruce Haskins, who had six suggestions for improving Green Party electoral campaigns.

I hope that these thoughts will be helpful to future Green Party candidates. I also hope that these opinions will convince you to join the GPOP EOW Group. If you have additional suggestions, please let me know for inclusion in Report #4.
Sincerely,
Chris Robinson, 215-843-4256
nwgreens@yahoo.com
City Committee Member at Large
Green Party of Philadelphia
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Posted on 11/16/’15 to: Green Party of the U.S. ; GPOP News, Northwest Greens, and GPOP Chat.
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The Green Party of Philadelphia has been very active since the last Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) Delegate Meeting on September 19, 2015, in Harrisburg, PA. We have focused our efforts on staffing the polls for Kristin Combs’ campaign for Philadelphia City Council and on finding candidates to run for PA State office in 2016.

September 2015 (continued)
On September 30, the GPOP General Membership Meeting was held at Calvary Center for Culture and Community in Cedar Park, West Philadelphia. It was attended by 11 members and friends. Those present heard an account of the GPPA Quarterly Meeting in Harrisburg on 9/11. Kristin Combs gave a report on her campaign via telephone. The membership then approved an Electoral Operations Working (EOW) Group, which will have three functions: “recruiting Green Party candidates who will campaign for office; organizing people to work on those campaigns; and building an infrastructure that will be able to win electoral campaigns.”

October 2015
On October 4, a news release, “Green Party Looking for Political Candidates,” was posted to the media. This news release appeared in: Green Party of the U.S. website under State and Local News; The Independent Voice, October 5; Lehigh Valley Vanguard, October 5, 2015; Philadelphia Free Press, October 6, 2015; and Philadelphia Public Record, October 8, 2015, pages 15, 21.

On October 5, the GPOP EOW Group posted Report #1 to the membership. Report #1 summarized the preparatory work, which had been done prior to the GPOP Membership Meeting on 9/30. It also asked for GPOP members to volunteer for the EOW Group.

On October 10, Hillary Kane organized GPOP’s GREEN NIGHT OUT at Sang Kee Peking Duck House in Chinatown, Philadelphia. Guest of honor (and Green Party candidate for City Council) Kristin Combs discussed her campaign with the 13 people who attended.

On October 12, a news release, “City Council Candidate Kristin Combs Speaks at Green Night Out,” was posted to the media. This news release appeared in: OpEdNews, October 12, 2015; Philadelphia Free Press, October 13, 2015; Northwest Greens email list, October 13, 2015; GPOP NEWS, email list of Green Party of Philadelphia, October 13, 2015; Pennsylvania State News, October 13, 2015; Green Party of Pennsylvania, Facebook, October 13, 2015; and Green Party of the U.S. website under State and Local News, October 14, 2015.

On October 18, the GPOP EOW Group posted Report #2 to the membership. Report #2 described the activity which had taken place following the GPOP Membership Meeting on 9/30.

On October 28, the GPOP General Membership Meeting was held at Roma’s Pizza, in Roxborough, Philadelphia. It was attended by nine members. Members heard a report from Kristin Combs and from Belinda Davis, Kristin’s volunteer coordinator. Hillary Kane said that the next Green Night Out would be postponed until 2016. The GPOP City Committee is planning a 15th Anniversary Party for GPOP in the spring of 2016.

November 2015
On November 3, GPOP members worked the polls for Kristin Combs’ campaign for Philadelphia Council. Final figures for this election are not yet available, but public estimates put Kristin’s total at more than 11,100 votes. While this was not enough to earn Kristin a seat on City Council, it was the largest total in history for any Green Party candidate in any Philadelphia city-wide election.

The November GPOP General Membership Meeting was postponed until December 2 because it conflicted with a national celebration of Euro-Imperialism.

Movement Connections
During October and November, GPOP members were active within the Philadelphia Area Anti-Drone Network (meetings on 9/16 and 10/21). Bernadette Marie Cronin-Geller, Lawrence Geller, Evelyn Haas, Eric Hamell, Chris Robinson and Bob Smith attended demonstrations (9/26 and 10/31) against the new Drone War Command Center in Horsham, PA. It was good to see Greens from Lancaster County there as well.
On October 13, Glenn Davis and Julian Robinson attended the Ferguson to Philly planning meeting at the Friends Center.
On October 22, Eric Hamell attended the Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks pot-luck social for Kristin Combs, the GPOP candidate for City Council.
On October 24, GPOP members marched in Spiral Q’s Peoplehood Parade. GPOP was a Peoplehood Partner.
On November 10, Glenn Davis participated in the national Fight for $15/hour demonstration. A photo of the demonstration in Philadelphia can be found here.
In solidarity,
Chris Robinson, 215-843-4256
City Committee Member at Large
Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP)
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Minutes were taken by Chris in the absence of an elected Recording Secretary. A draft copy was circulated to those present on October 29. Additions and corrections were received from Bernadette Marie, Belinda, Eric, and Hillary. Approved minutes were posted to GPOP News on November 1, and they were posted to www.gpop.org on November 2.

1. Kristin’s Campaign for City Council-at-Large
Kristin described the excellent forum for Council-at-Large candidates, which was held on 10/27. She believes that she did quite well, and she will circulate the link for on-line viewing as soon as it becomes available.
Belinda is Kristin’s volunteer coordinator. She said the campaign has around 100 election-day volunteers, many from labor unions and other organizations which have endorsed Kristin. Here are the Combs4Council links for volunteers and for donations.
Discussion of scandals within the Democratic Party: 1) failure to discipline their wayward ward leaders, and 2) financial irregularities during the 2015 Primary Election.
Jill Stein, the 2012 Green Party candidate for POTUS, will be in Philadelphia for the 11/3 General Election.
Kristin plans to attend the 11/21 GPPA Meeting in Harrisburg, and she plans to present an analysis of her campaign.

2. Green Night Out
Hillary said that GPOP held its second successful Green Night Out on October 10, with Kristin Combs presenting the issues around her campaign. GPOP cleared around $80.00.
The next Green Night Out has been postponed until 2016.

3. GPOP Election Operations Working (EOW) Group
Chris said that the GPOP EOW Group Report was posted to GPOP News on October 19. Since that time he has been in touch with Juntos, the local organization demanding human rights for all including immigrants. When asked if they knew of a possible candidate to run on the Green Party ballot for PA State Representative in 2016, Juntos organizer Jasmine Rivera responded, “Yes, I agree the larger narrative needs to shift around human rights. And hopefully the right candidate can be found! It needs to happen.”

4. Report from GPOP City Committee Meeting
Hillary said that there was no quorum on October 14, but the members present discussed holding a fundraising party next spring to celebrate GPOP’s 15th Anniversary. Something like a potluck with entertainment at the Ethical Society.

5. Treasurer’s Report
Hillary said that GPOP has $1,400.00. The members then voted to donate $500.00 to Friends of Kristin Combs.
Hillary also held a raffle for a gourmet meal for two, with the proceeds to go to Friends of Kristin Combs. Chris won the raffle.

*The location for the November GPOP General Membership Meeting was not discussed on 10/28. We held an email poll of those present and decided upon postponing the meeting until December 2 (because our regular date falls on Thanksgiving Eve).
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